Phantoms of a Wish
by HyruleKing
Summary: Following the events of "Heart of Darkness, Soul of Light", CJ, the King of Hyrule, finds himself returned to his old life as a normal young man living on Earth, where Hyrule is just a fictional world. But, as his wish on the Triforce to return him and his friends to their normal lives unravels, he begins to realize that every wish comes with an unforeseen twist...


**Phantoms of a Wish**

_When we last left our heroes... or maybe our villain... CJ had confessed to Shaylene that he was responsible for the house fire that killed her family. He admitted that he loved her and found it hard to fight the darkness within him that drove him to want to be with her. Furious, Jennette traveled to Lorule in the hopes of using their Triforce to make CJ pay for what he did. But in the end, CJ did what he could to atone for his sins by wishing on the Triforce to reverse what was done by the Crystal Wii Remote, returning him and his friends to their old life and making Hyrule nothing more than a fictional land within a video game once again..._

**PROLOGUE: Return to the Days of Old**

"_Hold on, to me as we go**  
**As we roll down this unfamiliar road**  
**And although this wave (wave) is stringing us along**  
**Just know you're not alone**  
**Cause I'm gonna make this place your homeSettle down, it'll all be clear**  
**Don't pay no mind to the demons**  
**They fill you with fear**  
**The trouble it might drag you down**  
**If you get lost, you can always be foundJust know you're not alone**  
**Cause I'm gonna make this place your home..."_

A brown-haired, blue-eyed young man in his mid-20s sat up in bed, which was just a simple mattress on the floor in the middle of a small room. He reached over to the round glass table next to him and grabbed the pair of glasses that were sitting on top of his laptop. Sleeping at the foot of the bed was a gray-and-white short-haired cat. The young man shifted a bit in bed, waking the cat, who looked at him, stretched and then she let out a quiet meow.

"Good morning, Saphira." The young man, 25-year-old CJ Francis, said. He grabbed his cell phone and checked the time. 10:13 AM. He lifted the covers off of himself and got out of bed. Saphira ran over to a small metal dish sitting in the corner of the room and meowed again. "I know. It's breakfast time, huh?" CJ walked over to a small brown cat carrier next to his dresser, opened it, and grabbed a can of cat food. He opened it and poured it into the dish, which Saphira immediately began eating. CJ then looked at the calendar. July 3, 2013.

_It looks like the Triforce did what I wanted. _CJ thought to himself. He then grabbed his cell phone and dialed a number. He smiled when he heard a voice on the other end.

"_Hi CJ." _A girl's voice said.

"Hey Shay." CJ said. The girl on the other line was his best friend, 16-year-old Shaylene Johnson. "Happy birthday. Finally old enough to drive."

"_Yup." _Shaylene said, chuckling. _"And thanks."_

"You're welcome." CJ said. "What time do you want me to come pick you up?"

"_Is there any specific time that you want to come get me?" _Shaylene asked.

"Well... Stacey and her family are heading over to her aunt's around 2:00 for the pool party, so it's really whenever you want me to pick you up." CJ said.

"_Okay. Just come get me around 1:30 then."_ Shaylene said.

"Is Jennette coming too?" CJ asked.

"_No. She's gotta work today."_ Shaylene said. _"But she'll be out in time to meet us downtown at the stadium for the fireworks."_

"Ok. Sounds like a plan." CJ said. "I'll see you at 1:30." He then hung up his phone, tossed his laptop in his black backpack and walked upstairs. He came up to a small bedroom where a young black man about 21 years old with very short curly black hair sat, playing a PlayStation 3.

"Hey CJ." The young man said. He was CJ's friend and roommate, Alex.

"Morning, dude." CJ said. "You talk to Dayan or Danielle yet?"

"No, I was waiting to find out what time we were heading over to Stacey's aunt's house." Alex said.

"I was planning on leaving here around 1:15 or so." CJ said.

"Ok." Alex said. "I'll give them a call and let them know."

A couple of hours later, a tan-colored Chevy car pulled up in front of a grayish-tan house on a busy main road. Sitting in the back seat were Alex, a black young man with very dark skin and a shaved head, and a light-skinned black girl with glasses and wavy, almost curly dark hair. They were CJ and Alex's friends Dayan and Danielle. Sitting in the driver's seat was CJ. He honked the horn and within a minute or two, a girl came running out of the house and jumped in the passenger seat. She wore a pink t-shirt, jean skirt and had green eyes and blond hair that was tied into a ponytail.

"Hey, CJ." She said with a smile.

"Happy birthday, Shay." CJ said. "Ready to have an awesome day?"

"You know it!" Shaylene said excitedly. She clicked her seat belt into place and the group was soon on their way.

Not too long, CJ pulled up to a small house on a wooded back road. Everyone jumped out and headed out behind the house, where a bunch of people were gathered around an in-ground swimming pool, and several others were swimming in the pool.

"Hey Stacey, CJ's here!" A brown-eyed girl with short brown hair called out from the pool. CJ looked over to the nearby table, where a young woman about 21 years old with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a black one piece bathing suit, turned to face him. She ran over and hugged him.

"Hi hun." She said. She was Stacey, CJ's girlfriend. CJ smiled and kissed her.

"Hey." CJ said. Stacey then looked at Shaylene.

"Did you have to bring her?" Stacey asked.

CJ gave her a slightly upset look. "Hun, it's her birthday. Cut her some slack." He then turned to Shay. "Give us a minute, okay?"

"Sure." Shaylene said. She walked over to the table, where Alex, Dayan and Danielle had already gone.

"What is with you, hun?" CJ asked. "Why can't you ever be somewhat nice to Shaylene?"

"Because I..." Stacey's sentence trailed off as she began to mumble in a manner similar to an upset child.

"Hun..." CJ said sternly.

"I don't like her." Stacey said, still mumbling a bit.

"Why?" CJ asked.

"Because... You do." Stacey said.

"Hun, if I liked her more than I liked you, you and I wouldn't be about to celebrate our 3-year anniversary." CJ said. "Sure, I like her. But I also know that she's too young for me, and besides... I'm happy being with you. But I really wish you would try to get along with her better. She's been one of my best friends for close to 10 years. She's practically like a sister to me. And as much as I love you, I don't want our relationship to ruin my friendship with her."

"You don't want me ruining another friendship... I get it..." Stacey said, sounding defeated.

"Hun, stop that." CJ said, putting his hand on Stacey's chin and lifting her head so they were looking into each other's eyes. "You didn't ruin my friendship with Mat. I did that... on purpose. I don't know why you're even feeling bad about it."

"Sorry..." Stacey said.

"It's ok." CJ said, pulling Stacey into an embrace. "I love you. Now let's go have some fun." They headed back toward the pool, where everyone had already jumped in, with the exception of Shaylene, who was standing near the table in a pink bikini with purple and blue flowers on it.

Stacey looked down at her feet, and then sorrowfully looked up. "I'm sorry about what I said..."

"It's ok." Shaylene said.

"Happy birthday, by the way." Stacey said.

"Thanks." Shaylene said.

"Hun, are you coming downtown with us to the fireworks tonight?" CJ asked.

"No, it's way too hot for me." Stacey said, referencing the 90-degree heat and 70 to 80-percent humidity that day.

"That's fine." CJ said. "I'd rather you don't make yourself sick." He then shed his black t-shirt and jumped into the pool, and the girls quickly followed suit.

A short time later, an older woman with glasses and shoulder length dirty blonde hair came walking over to the pool area in a blue one-piece bathing suit.

"Hey Stace, can you give us a hand with the food?" She asked.

"Sure, Mom." Stacey said. Stacey climbed out of the pool and followed her mom over to her aunt's house.

"Hey CJ, what time are we heading downtown?" Dayan asked.

"I don't know. Was there any specific time you guys wanted to get there?" CJ said. "I mean, the fireworks aren't until like 9:15 or so, but if we wanted to walk around and check out all the food vendors and stuff, we can."

"So like... 8:15, 8:30-ish?" Danielle asked.

"Actually yeah, maybe we'll go a bit earlier." CJ said. "Unless you guys want to drive back to my house and then we can walk to the fireworks."

"I'm okay with walking." Danielle said.

"That's fine with me." Dayan added.

"When have I ever complained about walking?" Alex questioned.

"That way, we don't have to get stuck in fireworks traffic." CJ said. "What about you, Shay? You okay with walking?" He looked at Shaylene, who was sitting on the edge of the pool hanging her feet in the water.

"Yeah, I'll be all right with it." Shaylene said. "If I get too tired, I'm sure you could carry me..."

CJ just looked at her for a moment. "Fine." He said. "But only as an absolute last resort. What about Jennette? Want to see if she'd want to drive to my house and walk with us?"

"Yeah, I'll give her a call a little bit later." Shaylene said.

"What time is she working until?" CJ asked.

"5:00." Shaylene said.

_**A few hours later...**_

"Hey hun, we're heading home." CJ said to Stacey.

"Okay. I'll see you later then." Stacey said, kissing CJ. CJ and the gang headed back out to his car and started to head back home, as Shaylene pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

"_Hey sis. What's up?"_

"We're all gonna meet up at CJ's and then walk to the fireworks tonight. You up for walking with us?" Shaylene asked.

"_Yeah, sure. I'm okay with that." _Jennette said from the other end.

"Awesome. We'll see you then." Shaylene said before hanging up."

Later that evening, the group was gathered in front of a three-story grayish-blue house on a quiet side street. Everyone except Jennette, that is. Within a few minutes, a small silver car pulled up and parked in front of the house. Everyone looked at the car as Jennette climbed out of the driver's seat.

"What's up, guys?" Jennette asked.

"Hey, Jennette." CJ said. Everyone soon began walking down the street.

"Hey, CJ..." Dayan said. "You working this weekend?"

"Nah, I took the weekend off." CJ said. "I was gonna ask if you guys wanted to head over to Ray's on Sunday for the tourney. Get in some excitement with the little bit of summer we have left."

Dayan laughed. "Go figure. That's what I was gonna ask. Everyone else up for it?"

"You bet I am!" Shaylene said.

"It's whatever." Alex said.

"Sure." Danielle said.

"So CJ, Stacey couldn't make it?" Jennette asked.

"No. This heat and humidity kills her." CJ said. "She decided to stay home."

A few hours later, everyone was sitting on a bunch of metal benches in a local park behind a small brick football stadium. Exploding above their heads were dozens of colorful fireworks. CJ smiled and looked at Shaylene.

"See, kiddo? You're so important that the city has fireworks for your birthday." He said with a smirk.

"Shut up." Shaylene said, laughing a bit. "I know these are because tomorrow's the Fourth of July. But thanks anyway."

"Happy Birthday, Shay." CJ said, embracing his best friend. "And Happy Fourth guys."

_**The following Sunday...**_

Everyone was gathered in front of small shop somewhere downtown. The sign in the window read "Amesbury Comics".

"So... what deck did everyone bring?" Dayan asked.

"No offense, but why would I say, dude?" CJ asked. "We might end up facing each other in the tournament."

"What about you, Alex?" Dayan questioned.

"Same deck as always." Alex said.

"Six Sams?" CJ asked. Alex nodded. "And I'm assuming D brought her plant deck?"

"Hell yeah." Danielle said. "You guys are gonna get your asses kicked by Black Rose Dragon."

"You wish." Shaylene said with a smile.

"Someone's confident." Dayan said.

"She's been practicing a lot with me lately." CJ said. "She's made a lot of progress since the summer started."

"Y'know, this almost feels like some kind of Kingdom Hearts shit." Dayan said.

"All of us hanging out like this, trying to enjoy as much of the little bit of summer we have left?" CJ asked.

"Yeah." Dayan said.

"Looks like Haverhill's the new Twilight Town." CJ said with a laugh. "By the way... Dayan, you didn't say what deck you brought. Morphs? Photons? Utopia/Cowboy?"

"Nope." Dayan said. "I'm going Jaden Yuki this time around. Rocking my E Hero deck."

"Sweet. Been a while since I've faced the E Heroes." CJ said. "I'll reveal my hand. It'll be nice to see if the Heroes can slay the mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

"I should've expected you'd use your Blue-Eyes Deck." Dayan said.

CJ laughed. "It may be an inconsistent deck, but it's still my favorite. Hopefully, it'll be consistent enough to win this."

Within a short amount of time, everyone was inside the card shop, sitting at various tables with other people. Everyone had various trading cards laid out in front of them. Some were yellow, others were orange, some were purple, pink or blue, and a few were even black or white. But they all had crimson backgrounds with a black oval in the center.

"I'll activate Master Hyperion's effect." Shaylene said, pointing to a orange card on the table in front of her. She then removed an orange card from her discard pile. "I'll remove a Fairy-type monster in my graveyard from play, which will let me destroy one card on your side of the field." She then pointed to a green card on the table in front of her. "And since I have Sanctuary in the Sky in play, I can use this effect twice. So, I'll destroy your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and your face-down card." Shaylene's opponent then picked up a purple card and a face down card and placed them in the discard pile.

"And that means I'm open to a direct attack from your Hyperion." Shaylene's opponent said. "Good game." He said, reaching out to shake Shaylene's hand.

"Ray, I won." Shaylene said to a gray-haired man with glasses sitting behind a desk at the back of the card shop.

"Damn Agents..." Shaylene's opponent swore under his breath.

"Congrats, Shay." CJ said.

"Thanks." Shaylene said. Meanwhile, Dayan, Danielle and Alex were finishing up their duels.

"I activate Miracle Fusion." Dayan said, laying down a green card. He then removed two orange cards from his discard pile and placed them next to it in a separate pile. "I banish my Elemental Hero Prisma and my Elemental Hero Stratos to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero The Shining." He then placed a purple card on the field. "And my Shining gains 300 attack points for each of my banished Elemental Hero Monsters. So that's 3200 attack points. That's 400 points higher than your Cyber Twin Dragon."

"And with no other cards on my field and only 300 life points left, it looks like I lose." Dayan's opponent said.

"Hey Ray, I won my duel." Dayan said.

"Me too." Alex said.

"I lost mine." Danielle said.

"Okay, give me a second and I'll see how the final round matches up." Ray, the shop owner, said. He clicked a few buttons on his mouse. "All right, Alex you're facing Jonathon. Danielle you've got Mark. David you're facing Shawn. Shaylene you're facing CJ. And Dayan you've got the bye."

Within about thirty minutes or so, the duels began to end.

"I won, Ray." Alex said.

"Me too." Said Danielle.

"I beat David." Said a black-haired young man who looked to be in middle school.

"And I won our duel." CJ said.

"Okay." Ray said. "Give me one moment... Okay, Dayan you've got first place. CJ, you get second. And Shaylene gets third."

"Nice!" CJ said with a smile.

"First place gets $10 store credit. Second place gets four packs. Third place gets two packs." Ray said.

Within a short amount of time, everyone had their packs and cards picked out and were on their way.

"Awesome job today, Shay." CJ said.

"Yeah. Getting third place in one of your first tournaments is pretty good." Dayan said.

"So, you guys want to head back to our place to hang out?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Alex said.

"Well... that _is_ the whole reason I took the weekend off." CJ said with a chuckle. "But I wanna hit Sparky's first."

"When don't you want to go to Sparky's?" Dayan asked.

CJ laughed. "True. But I'm dying for Teradactyl wings."

"Yeah, sure. Let's roll." Dayan said.


End file.
